


Tethered

by Thegaywhocouldfly



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Peggy gets the serum too, Smut, but not really, this is lowkey a soulmate au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:40:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegaywhocouldfly/pseuds/Thegaywhocouldfly
Summary: "The serum will link you to another person. Your minds and souls will be linked through space and time. It will give you power, but your entire reality will be changed."An alternate universe where Peggy and Steve both receive the serum and it links them to each other.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Comments: 24
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, 
> 
> This is my first multichapter fic and the idea's been bouncing around in my head for over a year now so I decided to finally write it. I have some of the chapters already done so it should update semi-regularly. If you feel I've missed a tag or a warning please feel free to reach out and let me know. I hope you enjoy!

Steve was slowly limping his way back to the barracks. It was way past curfew and he was stuck ducking into shadows to avoid being caught. It really wasn’t his fault he was late, the other guys had cornered him after his shower earlier. They were unhappy with his scene with the flag earlier that day, and they decided to show their unhappiness by taking turns beating the crud out of him.

So now here he was with a split lip and more bruises than he could count trying to avoid getting into more trouble. He only has to pass a couple more buildings and then he’d be safely in his barracks with none of the commanding officers even knowing he’d been late. 

He hears a twig snap to his right and he presses himself against the wall of the mess hall in case it’s an officer doing rounds. He stays there for a moment and breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn’t hear any other noise. Almost there.

“Private Rogers it’s after curfew.” a voice behind him states, and he nearly jumps out of his skin before turning around to face the familiar dark haired agent. Agent Margaret “Peggy” Carter was there standing in the moonlight with her arms crossed in a no nonsense sort of way.

Steve was pretty sure his stomach was about to drop out of his body and he felt his chest tighten. Agent Carter was the last person he wanted to see him like this. Especially after he thought he made such a good impression on her earlier today. She had smiled at him when he got in the jeep and it almost made the burn in his lungs from the long trek disappear. She certainly wasn’t smiling now.

“Agent Carter, ma’am, I’m so sorry. I was just getting back to the barracks.” Steve trails off when he sees Agent Carter’s eyes go wide as she takes in the state of him. 

Even in the moonlight Peggy can see the dried blood around his mouth and on the left side of his face stemming from a split lip and a cut above his eyebrow. His left eye was sporting quite the shiner and she was sure he was favoring his right leg.

Her brows furrow as she continues her mental exam of his injuries. Briefly Steve wishes he could kiss away the worried look on her face, but he shakes away the inappropriate thought as quickly as it came. Agent Carter would never be interested in a guy like him.

“It looks worse than it is” he says in an attempt to placate her.

“It looks like you got beat up. Care to tell me what happened Private?” Agent Carter asks while taking a step towards him to get an even closer look at his injuries.

Steve stammers for a bit wondering if he should tell her the truth or not. “Well you see ma’am the other guys didn’t really appreciate having to finish the run while I was able to ride back to camp with you, so they kinda, um, well they-”

“-beat you up behind the mess hall?” She finishes for him.

“No that’s not exactly what happened” Steve answers.

Agent Carter crosses her arms and raises a brow, “No? So what did happen then?” Her lips and she tilts her head to side while staring at him and waiting for an answer.

“They beat me up behind the showers ma’am.” Steve replies bashfully.

“I see.” She says in that crisp British accent of hers. She considers him for a moment. She hates to see his face marred with such injuries, and what a beautiful face it was. Late at night, while she slid a hand between her legs, she’d imagine what his face would look like between her thighs, how his tongue would feel, if he’d moan when she pulled at his hair.

She knew it was highly inappropriate and unprofessional, but there was something about his that was so unlike anyone else she’d ever met. 

Nevertheless, here he was with wounds that needed to be cleaned and she doubted he had any such supplies at his bunk, “Come with me, my quarters are this way.” With that she turns to start walking in the direction toward her quarters.

Steve is shocked by her words. He had expected her to turn him in to Colonel Phillips for being out past curfew or at the very least give him a stern lecture. He certainly didn’t expect an invitation back to her quarters.

“Ma’am?” he asks, confused.

She stops walking and turns back towards him with kind eyes, “Your wounds need to be cared for and I assume you don’t have any medical supplies in your bunk. Luckily for you I have some at my place.”

Steve still doesn’t move. He’d love nothing more than to have her help him clean the cuts on his face, the last thing he needs to deal with right now is an infection, but if they were caught together this late, well he knew what it would look like to the outside eye. He doesn’t want to put her reputation at risk.

“If you don’t want my help that’s alright, but you should at least get that lip cleaned up.” Peggy says gently.

“Sorry ma’am, I’d really appreciate your help, I just don’t want anyone to think anything untoward what with me going to your private quarters at night like this” Steve informs her.

Her eyes soften and she gives him a small smile, “I appreciate the concern for my reputation Private Rogers, but I assure you that everyone else is asleep at this hour and we won’t be caught” She almost rolled her eyes at the accuracy of the statement. Agent David was assigned to rounds tonight and she knew he tended to focus his rounds on the booze he kept in his flat. By this hour he’d be passed out cold.

“Alright ma’am, I could use the help” Steve says and returns her smile.

“Follow me Soldier” Agent Carter says and they begin walking back to her place.

* * *

They arrive at a small building on the edge of the base. The walk there had been silent, neither of them wanting to risk waking anyone up.

Peggy opens the door to the building and ushers him in. “We don’t have to be as quiet in here, being the only female officer on base has its benefits, the first of which being privacy”

Steve follows Peggy up the stairs and she leads him to a door on the right. When they enter, she motions for him to sit at the kitchen table while she goes and gets the supplies. 

He sits down at the table and looks around. She has a small flat complete with a bedroom, a tiny kitchen, and a bathroom. The place is unmistakably hers with documents strewn across the kitchen table next to a half finished cup of what Steve assumes is tea. There’s also a tube of lipstick next to a closed compact, and Steve knew if he opened the tube he’d see her distinct shade of red. Well, he knew it was red because Bucky had drilled him on his colors when he was younger, but what he saw was closer to a muted greenish-brown than the vibrant red color Bucky had tried to explain to him. The couple times Steve had tried to draw with the colored pencils that belonged to Bucky’s sisters Bucky had tried to help him match the different colors correctly, but Steve preferred to sketch with his regular pencils. Plus the plain graphite was a bit cheaper which was easier on his Ma.

Steve was pulled out of his thoughts by Peggy returning with an armload full of cotton pads, antiseptic, and some bandages.

“I’m afraid I’m all out of thread, so I hope you don’t require stitches” She says while moving documents and setting everything down on the table. The cut above his brow worried her the most, perhaps she could pull some thread from one of her older blouses.

“I don’t think I will ma’am, I’m mostly just bruised, the cut on the forehead is the worst of it” He replies. He doesn’t want her wasting all her supplies on him, it’s bad enough that she had to see him in the aftermath; he doesn’t wanna be a burden to her too.

She sits down in the chair next to him and starts dabbing some antiseptic onto the pads, “This may sting a bit” she warns him before pressing the pad to his cut lip and he gasps.

She shushes him gently at his sharp inhale and starts cleaning up the blood around his mouth, “So how come I didn’t run into any of the men who did this to you?”

“Well this all kinda happened a few hours ago” he says. Peggy raises her eyebrow in question so he continues, “I kept getting up every time they hit me to try and fight back. Hodge didn’t like that so much so he socked me square in the temple. Next thing I knew it was dark out and they were all gone. I assume they ran off after that.” Steve explains, wincing as she gets to a cut above his brow.

Peggy hums in acknowledgment, “One wonders if it may have been better for you to stay down” 

“My ma taught me that no matter what you should always stand back up” He says.

“She sounds like a very smart woman” Peggy replies.

She sees his eyes get sad for a moment before he responds, “She was”.

Peggy finishes cleaning and bandaging the wounds on his face in silence. Once she’s done she sets the leftover pads on the table and sits up straight, “I suppose I can’t judge you for not staying down, lord knows my brother’s had to bandage me up after a few fights myself. My mother was always asking him why he didn’t just step in to save me. He always told her ‘Peggy had it handled’, it drove my mother crazy.” She finishes with a small laugh.

Steve smiles at that, “He sounds like a very smart man”.

Peggy smiles sadly, “He was”. Their eyes meet in a form of understanding. They knew each other’s pain well.

Steve hates seeing the grief on her face as much as he’d hated seeing the worried look she’d given him earlier. “My best pal back home was always pulling me outta fights. Used to say there were better ways to impress a girl” he says in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Is that why you fought? To impress a girl?” Peggy asks. She wonders if perhaps she had judged him prematurely, maybe he isn’t so different from all the other soldiers on base.

Steve laughs at that, “Definitely not, I just don’t like bullies. Besides, most girls weren’t impressed with me much.”

At that all of Peggy’s concern about him being just a typical chauvinistic man were dashed. She thinks all the girls in New York must be rather foolish to have turned down this rare gem of a man. 

Peggy’s eyes meet Steve’s, “For what it’s worth, I think you’re quite lovely Soldier” She says softly.

“Thank you ma’am” Steve blushes from his cheeks down to his neck and ducks his head.

She followed his blush with her eyes; she knew if she took his shirt off the pink tint would continue all the way down his abdomen. Oh yes, she wants to devour this boy. 

She clears her throat and dismisses her train of inappropriate thoughts, “Anytime Steve, you can always come to me if you need help.”

He smiles at her words, “I had better get going, the last day of training starts early tomorrow and I don’t wanna take up any more of your time.”

He gets up and starts towards the door.

“Steve wait” She starts after him.

“Yeah?” He asks, turning to face her

“You can call me Peggy if you’d like. In private of course! I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was playing favorites” Peggy opens the door for him.

His heart soars at that. He wants nothing more than to be able to spend more time with her in a non-army setting, “I’d like that very much, goodnight Agen– Peggy, goodnight Peggy” He says.

“Goodnight Steve, be careful walking back” she replies. 

Steve leaves and Peggy leans against the closed door behind him. Biting her lip, she thinks to herself that the whole exchange was wildly inappropriate and she’d surely face repercussions if anyone were to find out about it. But despite that, she doesn’t seem to care about anything else other than his kind, blue eyes.

* * *

The next morning had been a whirlwind of activity. Steve had been wheezing through a set of jumping jacks, push-ups, and sit-ups when he heard Colonel Phillips yell “Grenade!” and saw the small object land several feet in front of him. His mind went blank and he acted purely on instinct, throwing himself over the bomb to try and minimize the damage caused by the detonation. A detonation that never happened.

Fast forward to that night, he’s seated in Colonel Phillips’ office with Dr. Erskine and Howard Stark.

“Colonel are you sure about this? He’s kind of small” Howard Stark says while looking disbelievingly at Steve, “No offense kid”

“The doctor vouches for him and Carter does too, who am I to doubt their choice?” Phillips asks rhetorically. Steve feels his nerves lessen a bit at hearing that Peggy had chosen him for the procedure as well. He wishes she were here right now, she wouldn’t be looking at him like he had a third arm the way Stark was.

Dr. Erskine pulls him out of his thoughts by saying, “Steven is the perfect candidate, and there will be no more discussion on the matter”

“The doc’s right” Phillips agrees. He sits up straighter in his chair and regards Steve closely, “Before you agree to anything Private Rogers, there’s more you need to know”

Steve’s nerves suddenly come back full force, “What else is there? You have a serum that’s supposedly going to turn me into a super soldier, how can there be more than that?” Steve questions.

Colonel Phillips gives him a stern look, “What we’re about to tell you is highly classified. The only people who have the authority to know about it are in this room. If anyone were to leak this information they would be punished by the full extent of the law. Do you understand Private?”

Steve swallows thickly, “Yes sir, I do”

“Excellent, doc you want to take it from here?” Phillips asks.

“Surely, Steven are you familiar with the Red Skull?” Dr. Erskine asks. Steve nods and the doctor continues, “Excellent. You see, the Red Skull received an unfinished version of the serum. I had warned him that it wasn’t finished yet, but he refused to listen to me. The amount of power the serum gives someone is too much for one person to handle. Schmidt received the serum on his own and it overtook his mind which caused various physical deformities and his eventual descent into madness. He was no longer tethered to his reality”

Steve swallows hard and Erskine continues, “I’ve finally perfected the serum. It will be given to you and another person so that you will be linked to each other. The serum you receive will be interwoven with the DNA of your counterpart, and the serum they receive will be interwoven with your DNA. This will connect you to each other forever. Your minds and souls will be linked through space and time. It will give you power, but your entire reality will be changed.”

Steve hears the door open behind him, but is too shocked by what the doctor’s telling him to see who entered. No one stops talking so he assumes they must also have the clearance to know what’s going on.

“The serum will be unique to only the two of you” Dr. Erskine finishes.

“Jesus doc, and I thought my flying car was the peak of scientific discovery” Stark interjects, looking slightly excited at the prospect while Steve just sits in silence, digesting everything he’s just been told. He can’t imagine being mentally linked to anyone; it sounds more like a plot from one of Bucky’s sci-fi novels than real life.

“Do you have any questions kid?” Phillips asks gently.

Steve faces Erskine, “You said there would be a second person, someone I’d be connected to, who’s that gonna be?” Steve asks.

“It will be me soldier” says the crisp British voice from behind him.

He whips around to see Peggy standing in front of the closed door looking as put together as always. 

He just stares at her with his mouth hanging open.

Peggy regards him carefully, “Any objections?”

Steve doesn't think he's ever had less objections in his whole life.

He turns back around to face Erskine, “When do we start?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peggy gets the serum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter, I hope you all enjoy!

The next few days pass in a whirlwind of activity. Steve and Peggy are each put through multiple rounds of physical tests and examinations to develop a baseline for their health pre-serum. They hadn’t been able to spend any time together – outside of testing – since the night she cleaned him up after his altercation with the other recruits; she still had her own work to do for the SSR on top of possibly becoming a super soldier. Steve feels more like a pin-cushion than a soldier by the time they’re being shipped off to Brooklyn for their procedures.

Peggy would be the first to receive the serum. Erskine thought it would be best that the unifying aspects of the serum remain a secret. So tomorrow morning Steve will get the serum in front of various army personnel, senators, and SSR agents while Peggy’s abilities remained in the shadows. Hence why she was receiving her version under the cover of night.

That’s if the serum even worked of course. Erskine had reassured them all multiple times that he couldn’t foresee any complications with it, but Steve has heard that from doctors before when his ma had been able to save up enough money for him to get an appointment. They usually resulted in broken promises and treatments that didn’t work.

It’s nearing midnight when they arrive at an old antique store. The street was dark and there was no one else around. Colonel Phillips had driven Steve and Peggy up to New York from Camp Leigh in one car while Howard and Dr. Erskine had driven in another.

“Is this the right place?” Steve asks, confused. They were supposed to be meeting Dr. Erskine and Howard.

Colonel Phillips eyes him in the rearview mirror, “Rogers are you insinuating that I would bring you to the wrong place?”

“No sir, I just mean, well, we’re at antique shop” Steve stammers out. He shoots Peggy a helpless look.

“Things are not always as they seem soldier” Peggy interjects before Phillips can respond. She gets out of the car and steps onto the empty sidewalk, “Well let’s get on with it then” she starts walking toward the entrance.

Phillips huffs and he and Steve follow after her into the building. Peggy quickly leans over the counter and feels around for something.

“Ah here it is” She says.

Before Steve can ask what it was she was looking for she’s leading them through a curtained doorway to a back room and they stop in front a wall to wall bookcase. He looks around in confusion.

Peggy gives him a sly smile, “Wait for it” She says.

Suddenly the bookcase opens up to reveal a brightly lit hallway. Peggy quickly continues walking while Steve just stands there gaping until Phillips gives him a light shove. There’s no one else around as they continue down the corridor to another set of double doors. When they push through them they’re brought into an even bigger room with dozens of control panels surrounding what can only be described as a large metal pod in the center of the room. Steve sees Howard and Erskine by the pod bent over some documents. They both look up as they enter the room.

“Ah there you are” Erskine greets them. “I apologize for the late hour, but we thought it best to do this at night”

“We’re probably gonna put out half the lights in Brooklyn with this, so hopefully most people are asleep and won’t notice” Howard says while turning back to the documents.

Phillips walks over to a chair off to the side and takes a seat, “Doc are we all set?” He asks.

“Yes, all I need is a small blood sample from Steven and Margaret to complete the serum” Erskine says and gestures for them to sit down on a bench near him.

Peggy wordlessly sits down and begins rolling her sleeve up. Steve doesn’t even see her wince as the doctor sticks the needle in. He wonders if she’s as nervous as he is right now. He sits next to her and waits for his sample to be taken.

Once Erskine has both blood samples he and Stark turn back around to start infusing them into the serum. Beside Steve, Peggy let out a shaky breath. He looks over and she meets his gaze with a tight smile. She looks significantly paler than she did when they arrived and if Steve had to guess it wasn’t from the blood draw.

Steve reaches over and places his hand over hers where it rests on the bench between them. She quickly glances over to wear Erskine and Howard both are before silently turning her hand over and intertwining her fingers with his.

They don’t look at each other while they wait for the scientists to finish their work, but Steve can feel her thumb brush against his skin where it rests against his hand. He’s reminded of how happy he is that she’s the one going through this with him. He can’t imagine facing it alone.

Suddenly Erskine turns back around with multiple vials of a blue liquid, “Are you ready Margaret?” he asks

Peggy gives Steve’s hand a squeeze before subtly disconnecting them and standing up, “Yes doctor” she replies without a hint of reluctance.

“Alright then. Please remove your jacket and shoes” He says before turning around and placing the vials in slots on either side of the pod.

Peggy quickly does as he asks and is left in her khaki slacks and white t-shirt. She gives Steve one last look before laying down in the pod. Steve clenches his knuckles against the bench as the doctor begins strapping her in.

“Now remember, the serum you will be receiving has been infused with Steven’s DNA, it will help form the link between you two. After it’s been injected you will be saturated with vita rays to stimulate growth” the doctor says to Peggy once she’s all strapped in.

Peggy clenches her teeth as metal pads are placed over her chest. She thinks of Steve and how comforting his hand had been against hers. She thinks she would enjoy holding his hand for the rest of her life.

Peggy takes a deep breath and closes her eyes; she really hopes this doesn’t kill her.

Erskine walks over to one of the panels, “Serum infusion beginning now” he says and he pushes a lever down.

Steve sees the vials start draining into Peggy and her entire body tenses up. Steve wonders if she’s in pain, if he should make them stop now before it’s too late. What if she doesn’t make it? There’s so much he still wants to tell her. Like how he thinks he started falling in love with her when she knocked Hodge into the dirt that first day of training, or how the small smiles she sends him make his heart beat faster, or how he wants nothing more than to sketch the way she smiles at him so that he can always look at it.

Steve’s brought out of his thoughts by Erskine calling out to Howard, “Now Mr. Stark” he states.

Howard pulls down on a lever and suddenly the open pod is shifting upright and closing with Peggy in it. What looks like a hose is attached to the top of the pod and Erskine raps one knuckle on the small window.

“How are you doing Margaret?” the doctor asks?

“It’s quite cozy in here doctor” Peggy replies. Steve releases some of his tension at the sound of her voice.

Erskine nods to Howard who starts turning a wheel on another panel, “Starting vita ray infusion at 10%” the inventor says.

He continues to spout out percentages each increasing by 10%, but Steve is too focused on the pod to really pay much attention to him. There’s a light in the window that keeps getting brighter with each percentage. Steve has to raise a hand to keep it from blinding him. Surely it must be blinding Peggy.

Inside the chamber, Peggy’s trying desperately not to scream with her teeth clenched tightly. The burn she’d felt as the serum entered her veins was nothing compared to the pain she feels now. It feels as though every bone in her body is being broken, every piece of flesh is being torn, and there’s a horrible ache in her chest that grows with each passing second.

Stark announces saturation at 100% and a few things happen at once. The panels surrounding them start sparking, the light in the window begins to dim, and Phillips is yelling at Stark to open the machine.

When the machine opens Phillips rushes over and helps Peggy out. She’s white as a sheet and gasping for breath. Her hands are still clenched tightly into fists with the skin on knuckles threatening to split. She leans heavily onto Phillips while her eyes dart around wildly. She looks like she doesn’t even recognize where she is.

Without even thinking Steve rushes towards her. He grabs her hand and squeezes it. Immediately her eyes meet his and everything else disappears. All that exists are Peggy’s deep brown eyes and the flutter in his chest as they bore into his soul.

The first thing Peggy’s aware of is how blue his eyes are. How they calm the roaring in her head and the roiling in her stomach at her new heightened senses. They anchor her in place and for a second the pain in her chest is gone. She would go through the pain of the serum a thousand times over if she could just look into his eyes afterward.

They’re both pulled out of the moment by Phillips clearing his through, “Carter how do you feel?” he asks.

She considers the question for a moment before she answers, “Not much different to be honest, I can tell I’ve grown a bit though” she replies.

Steve can tell too. Her shirt is pulled tight around her chest and shoulders, and her once-fitting pants now end well above her ankles. There’s slight increase in visible muscle mass all over her body. Fleetingly, Steve wonders what it’d be like if she pinned him against the wall before pushing away the inappropriate thought. He studies her face for a moment and suspects she wasn’t being entirely truthful in her answer. He can see her jaw clenching and unclenching, and her eyes are pinched slightly as though she’s fighting off a headache. He wonders if she’s in pain.

“What about mentally? Do you feel linked to Steven at all?” Erskine asks her.

Peggy considers the question for a moment, “It’s an odd sensation, it’s as though my mind is desperately trying to reach out to his but there’s nothing to grasp on to. It’s quite unsettling” she replies. That’s an understatement. She feels as though she’s been hollowed out with nothing to fill the empty space, like she off-balance somehow. It’s disorienting, and the only relief she felt was when she was looking at Steve.

“I have some tests I’d like to run” Howard interjects from behind Steve, “In private, if that’s alright Colonel?”

He continues talking about different tests, but Peggy doesn’t hear him. She feels her heart constrict at the words and her eyes fly back towards Steve’s. No! She’s quite certain the emptiness in her chest will overwhelm her if he leaves now. As if sensing her panic, Erskine stops Howard from continuing, “It’s getting late, the tests can all be run tomorrow after Steven’s procedure” he says.

Colonel Phillips yawns, “That sounds good to me, I’m beat. Carter, Rogers, we have some rooms at a hotel a couple blocks away. I’ll drive you both.” He says.

“Alright well at least help me get all these damn machines turned off” Howard sighs.

Peggy gives Steve a slight nod and he takes the okay to go help Howard and the colonel with the machines. She still feels unsettled by watching him walk away from her but it’s not as soul crushing as it could have been. She hears Erskine clear his throat behind her and turns to see him holding out her jacket. She quickly takes it and puts it back on suddenly feeling exposed in just the thin t-shirt. Just like the t-shirt, it’s now a tight fit.

Erskine puts a hand on her shoulder and considers her for a moment, “The empty feeling will pass Margaret. Once Steven has his procedure done tomorrow it will stop. Right now the link is only open on your end, you just have to hold on until it’s opened on his end as well” he tells her.

Peggy gives him a tight smile and nods before going off to assist the rest of the group.

* * *

Peggy turns over for what must be the 50th time that night. They’d gotten to the hotel just a couple hours before and she can’t seem to relax in the slightest.

_“Oh damn it all to hell”_ she thinks to herself and throws the covers to the side and gets out of bed. She knows damn well what will help her sleep and he’s just down the hall. She puts on her robe and creeps to the door hoping not to wake anyone up. What was the point of being a spy if you couldn’t sneak into a friend’s room?

She tiptoes down the hall and knocks softly on his door. She wonders if he’ll even hear her, he’s deaf in one ear and he’d probably asleep to boot. She ought to just go back to her own room.

Before she can turn around in defeat she hears some shuffling come from inside the room. The door opens a crack and she sees him in his pajamas squinting into the dark. The height difference between them is greater now and she finds she rather likes the idea of being able to hold him.

“Peggy?” Steve asks.

“Hello Steve” She greets him. She should probably be embarrassed about turning up at his door this late like this but seeing him feels like coming up for fresh air and she can’t find the will to walk away from him now, “I’m having some trouble sleeping” she admits.

Steve gives her a soft smile, “I gave up trying about half an hour ago, too nervous about tomorrow.” He opens the door all the way and motions inside, “Do you want to come in?” he asks.

Peggy nods and he leads her inside. She sees a sketchbook lying open on the coffee table next to a couple pencils. In it there’s a half finished sketch of a landscape unfamiliar to her. She wonders if it’s somewhere he goes often.

Steve notices her looking and moves to close the book, “I was hoping that drawing would take my mind off of tomorrow” he admits.

“It’s quite good, do you draw a lot?” Peggy asks.

“Here and there. I drew a lot growing up, and I couldn’t keep a steady job with me being sick all the time so I would pick up work drawing ads or comics. It didn’t pay the best, but it helped me get by.” Steve explains, “Do you wanna see some of the stuff I’ve done?”

He offers her his sketchbook and she can see the blush beginning to rise in his cheeks, “I’d love to see your work Steve, as long as you’re comfortable sharing it with me” Peggy says.

He hands the sketchbook to her and motions for her to sit down on the small couch off to the side of the room. When they’re both seated Peggy begins flipping through the pages.

“Steve these are amazing” she says in awe. His sketches are extremely detailed and she could tell he put a lot of work into them. She continues flipping through until she sees her own face staring back at her in greyscale. “Oh” she gasps.

“Aw jeez Peggy, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot that was in there” Steve stumbles out and starts reaching for the book. He’s about ready to die of embarrassment and really wishes a hole would open up under him to swallow him up. “I didn’t mean any disrespect ma’am, sometimes I just start sketching without anything specific in mind”

Peggy quickly cuts off his nervous rambling, “Steve it’s okay, I’m actually quite flattered” she gently pulls the book from his grasp and smiles at him, “You managed to get my hair just right, I’m impressed soldier”.

“You’re not upset?” Steve asks.

“Not in the slightest, I promise. It’s a beautiful drawing, I have nothing to be upset about. You can draw me any time you’d like.” Peggy says.

“Could I draw you right now?” the question seems to fall out of his mouth before he realizes what happened, “I mean if you didn’t have anything else to do and wouldn’t mind sitting for me” he fumbles.

Peggy grabs his hand between her own to get his attention, “Steve I don’t mind in the slightest. Is me just sitting here okay or is there a specific way you want me to pose?” she asks.

“Just like that’s good” he grabs his pencil and flips to a new page.

For a few moments the only sounds between the two of them are the scratching of his pencil and their soft breath in the air.

“So what’s it like? The serum I mean” Steve asks, gesturing vaguely to her with one hand while continuing his sketch with the other.

Peggy considers his question for a moment. She doesn’t want to scare him by admitting the pain she’s in – both mentally and physically – but she also doesn’t want to be untruthful with him.

She sighs, “It’s quite unpleasant to be honest” she tells him.

Steve meets her eyes. He was half expecting her to brush off the question and give him the same half truth she’d given them earlier in the night. He wasn’t expecting her to admit her discomfort to him.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” He asks sincerely.

“You being here with me is helping a lot actually” She admits softly.

Steve blushes and drops her gaze, returning his attention to the sketch, “Yeah?” he asks.

Peggy smiles at his sincere response. Oh how she just wants to wrap this kind-hearted man up in her arms and protect him from the horrors of the world.

“Quite” she responds, “I’m not sure how to describe it exactly, but it’s like my mind is subconsciously reaching out to you. I feel connected to you, but you’re not connected to me”

“Is it difficult with me not being connected to you” Steve asks

“Right now it’s like someone carved a gaping hole in my chest and left me completely empty inside” She tells him truthfully, “When I stepped out of the machine I felt like I couldn’t breathe, like the weight of the universe was pressing down on me and I wasn’t going to be able to hold it on my own. It lessened a bit when you held my hand”

Steve feels his cheeks grow warm at the reminder of his action earlier, “I’m sorry about that by the way. I shouldn’t have grabbed your hand, it was presumptuous of me”

Peggy reaches out to gently brush her fingers against his chin to get him to look at her, “Steve it’s okay” She assures him, “Like I said, I liked it. I like you soldier” She tells him

Steve can’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. Peggy freaking Carter actually likes him. He was pretty much head over heels for her at this point, but never in a million years did he expect those feelings to be even remotely reciprocated.

He must have had a surprised look on his face because the next thing he knows Peggy is gently taking the sketchbook out of his hands and setting in on the coffee table in front of them. She reaches up and rests her hand against his cheek.

When he meets her eyes she gives him a warm smile, “Is this okay soldier?” she asks.

Steve nods against her hand and reaches out for her free hand, “This is more than okay” he says.

Peggy smiles at him and strokes her thumb against his cheek before cuddling against his side with her head against his shoulder.

“Tell me about your friend” She tells him, “The one who pulled you out of fights”

“Bucky. He’s my best pal.” Steve smiles at the thought of his friend and continues, “We met when we were around 6. Some older kid at recess broke Annie Davis’ new pencil and when I tried to get him to apologize to her he rounded on me. Buck pulled him off me and we’ve been like brothers ever since. He got drafted a few weeks before Erskine found me”

“Is he in Europe now?” Peggy asks.

“Yeah he’s a Sergeant over there. He writes when he can but it’s not often” He tells her.

They talk for hours. Steve tells her about Brooklyn, the fights he got in, and all the trouble he and Bucky got into growing up. He tells her about how they accidentally broke one of Bucky’s Ma’s nice plates and spent an entire summer selling newspapers to try and buy her a new one. In return Peggy tells him stories from her all girls’ boarding school in London and how she broke her arm falling out a tree while trying to out-climb her brother.

They end up losing track of time and when Steve glances at the clock on the wall he realizes that it’s nearing 4am.

“Oh shit Peg, it’s getting late. I should let you get back to your room to get some sleep” he says. He could have sworn he saw fear cross her face when he mentioned her leaving.

“It’s alright Steve, I’m not feeling very tired” Peggy runs a hand through her curls and avoids meeting his eyes.

She definitely looks upset about something, he thinks.

“Peggy what’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asks her worried

He’s looking at her with such a concerned expression and she doesn’t know how to tell him. Doesn’t know how to explain that she’s barely holding on. How she feels like if she has to walk away from him now that she’ll crumble into a million pieces without him to hold her together. She hates it. It makes her feel weak and she’s not weak.

Steve gently takes one of her hands in his and brushes his thumb against the back of it, “Peg, please talk to me” he whispers.

She raises her head and meets his gaze, “Can I stay here with you” she asks him softly, blood rushing to her cheeks.

“Oh Peggy, of course you can, what’s going on?”

She sighs, “I feel like I have a very lose grip on my sanity right now and you’re the only thing helping. Erskine said I just had to hold on until tomorrow, but right now it seems impossible. What if I leave and I turn into a monster too? Like Schmidt.” She admits to him in a whisper and pulls her hand out of his grip.

Steve’s heart breaks at her words. He wishes they had just done both procedures at once and didn’t waste time with the political crap. He wants to go convince Erskine to just give him the serum now so that Peggy can stop hurting.

He’s brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Peggy’s breath hitching.

“Hey it’s alright, you can stay however long you want” he reaches for her hand again and she looks up to meet his gaze. Her eyes are glossy.

“Will you hold me?” she asks in a small voice, “I know it’s not proper, but I got injected with a magic serum today and I haven’t felt right since, so propriety’s not very high on my list of concerns right now”

Steve’s heart breaks even further, “Of course Pegs. Why don’t we go to bed? We can get a couple hours of sleep in before we have to meet Phillips”

She nods silently and he leads her the short distance to the bedroom. Together they get into bed and she curls against his side with her head on his chest.

For a while Peggy just listens to the sound of Steve’s heart while his hand rubs soothingly along her back. She barely feels the pain in her chest while she lies against his.

“Do you think you’d still like me even without the serum creating a link between us?” Steve whispers after a while.

Peggy cranes her neck to look up at him, “Oh my darling boy, I’ve been thinking about you ever since I first laid eyes on you. You’re one of a kind Steve”

His cheeks grow warm when she calls him darling. Her darling. Steve was hers. He smiles at her words, “Yeah?”

“Of course, I’d think about what it would feel like to hold your hand, how your arms would feel wrapped around me, how your lips would feel pressed against mine” she finishes in a whisper.

Peggy places her hand on his cheek and leans in. Suddenly there’s no pain and no fear. Only Steve and the feel of him pressed against her. His lips are warm and soft as they move against hers. How could she have waited so long to do this? She should have kissed him when she found him in the dark that night, or when she had bandaged him up back at her apartment.

Steve pulls away when his lungs begin to burn. Peggy cradles his face in her hands and leans her forehead against his while he catches his breath. When the wheeze in his lungs becomes less pronounced she peppers kisses on his cheeks and his nose and waits for him to open his eyes.

Steve opens his eyes to see her gazing lovingly at him and he smiles, “I’ve been a goner for you since you knocked Hodge into the dirt.”

Peggy laughs and this time it’s Steve who leans in to close the small space between them. After that there isn’t much talking.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets the serum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the latest chapter!
> 
> Warning, there's smut in this chapter, so if you aren't comfortable reading that stop reading once Steve and Peggy start kissing.

“Somebody get that kid a sandwich”

Peggy wants to roll her eyes at the condescending remark. Sure Steve is smaller than some men, but there’s nothing wrong with him. Here they were putting on some ridiculous dog and pony show for a bunch of senators and other government officials. She can hear Erskine explaining how the serum will work and how Steve will be the world’s first super soldier. She tunes him out. She doesn’t have the patience for the display being put on right now. All she cares about is Steve.

Their night together hadn’t gone much further than the heated kisses they had shared. Waking up next to him this morning had been a dream. They had laid in bed tangled together, content to share kisses until Peggy had to sneak back to her own room to get ready for the day. The pain in her chest had come back with a passion as soon as she left Steve’s room, but it had abated slightly while he subtly held her hand in the car ride from the hotel to the antique store.

She feels that pain now, mixing furiously with the nervousness she feels as she watches Steve step into the machine. The same machine she’d stepped into less than twelve hours ago. Hopefully the pain he feels won’t be as excruciating as the pain she had felt.

Peggy is pulled out of her thoughts by Dr. Erskine announcing the start of serum infusion. She fidgets in her seat and sits up straighter not wanting to miss anything. Phillips gives her a sidelong glance but she ignores it. Her hopes of Steve’s procedure being less painful than hers are dashed when she sees his eyes fly open in pain when the serum is injected. Her hands grip the edges of her seat.

“Carter you’re going to break that chair if you don’t relax” Colonel Phillips leans over to her and whispers. Peggy glances down and can see what he means. The metal is beginning to warp under her fingers. She definitely couldn’t do that a day ago. Maybe they should have had Howard run those tests last night.

She takes a deep breath and releases the chair, folding her hands in her lap.

In the main area of the room Steve is being closed into the pod for the vita ray infusion. He’s glad he’s strapped in because the burning in his veins from the serum is blinding and he’s sure his legs wouldn’t support him if he weren’t.

Erskine raps on the window, “Steven, are you alright?” he asks.

“It’s probably too late to go to the bathroom right?” Steve jokes. Through the small window Erskine give him a smile.

“We will proceed” Erskine announces to the other scientists.

Howard nods, “Beginning vita ray infusion at 10%” he announces and starts turning a knob on one of the control panels.

Up in the observation gallery Peggy shifts in her seat once again. She feels…odd. She barely listens as Howard announces the increase in percentages, too focused on the peculiar feeling in her chest.

Where there once was pain and emptiness is now a tingling sensation. She feels lighter than she had since she stepped into that machine. The only time she had felt like this was when she had been kissing Steve.

_Steve!_

All at once Peggy’s aware of the fact that she could feel him on the other end of their connection. It causes a relaxing warmth to spread through her body, and she feels her mind clear as though it had been in a fog. She wonders if he can feel her too.

Then the pain hits.

She gasps before quickly covering it up with a cough. Phillips shoots her a questioning look but she shakes her head at him. It’s an identical pain to the one she’d felt when they was in the pod. She grits her teeth as it gets worse. Why is it getting worse?

It’s bordering on unbearable now and she’s positive her chair is about to break under the force of her hands. Her lungs are on fire her vision blurs at the edge. She almost doesn’t hear Steve’s screams from below, too trapped in the fire burning through her. It wasn’t this bad when she had her procedure. It feels like she’s dying.

But it’s not _her_ dying she realizes in horror. It’s Steve. _Steve’s dying._

The thought of losing him is worse than any pain she feels and before she even realizes what she’s doing she’s flying out of her seat and out other the catwalk above the main section of the room.

“Shut it down!” Peggy screams.

The scientists are all looking up at her in bewilderment and Erskine is pounding on the window trying to get Steve’s attention through his anguished screams.

“Shut it down now!” She yells again. Why aren’t they doing anything to stop this?

“Mr.Stark!” Erskine yells to the inventor.

“Reversing vita ray infusion” Howard states. Steve’s screams stop. The pain begins to fade.

Before Peggy can even be relieved that they’re stopping she hears Steve shouting from inside the pod.

“No don’t! I can do this!” Steve stubbornly shouts to them.

She’s ready to yell at them again but she’s stopped by a voice. A voice that’s in her head. A voice that’s not her own.

_“Peggy please, I can do this, just trust me”_ it says

Her eyes go wide. Steve? She thinks in surprise.

_“Please trust me”_ The voice – Steve – says.

She can see Erskine looking up at her in question. She meets his gaze and nods to him.

The pain comes back with a vengeance as they resume the process. She grips the metal bars in front of her.

The seconds pass by painfully slow, and it seems like hours pass before Howard is announcing 100% saturation. With the words barely out of his mouth she’s flying down the stairs to get to Steve.

The pod opens and Peggy skids to a stop in shock. Steve certainly doesn’t need a sandwich anymore.

The sight that greets her is a tall and muscular body, comparable to that of Adonis himself. His chest is heaving as he struggles to catch his breath. They move towards each other almost without thinking. Like the attraction of two magnets, or the pull of the moon on the sea. Everything in the room disappears; they only have eyes for each other. Without her permission Peggy’s hand reaches out and brushes lightly against his chest.

She retracts it quickly and turns to grab a shirt from a nurse for him to put on.

_“Steve?”_ She tries to think in his direction. She feels a bit ridiculous, how had they done this just a minute ago?

His response is almost immediate, _“Peggy”_

He says her name with such reverence, like she’s a deity responsible for saving his eternal soul. Briefly, she thinks about how she’d quite like to hear him say it while he writhes in pleasure below her. They’re both at a loss for words, content to simply stare into each other’s eyes.

They’re ripped out of the moment by an explosion going off in the observation gallery above them. Peggy finds herself on the ground suddenly with Steve’s body above her. She pushes him off of her to see one of the reporters going after the few vials of serum that were left.

The reporter pulls out a gun and fires it somewhere behind her. Without thinking she pulls out her own weapon and jumps into action pursuing the assailant.

A chase ensues through the hallway leading to the front of the antique shop. The man jumps into a car but it’s no match for her deadly aim. She kills the driver instantly, but before she can get another shot off he’s jumping into another car and speeding towards her.

Peggy locks into a shooting stance and carefully aims her gun at the approaching vehicle. She places a finger on the trigger and gets ready to fire but as she pulls the triggers she’s tackled from the side throwing her shot off.

She shoves off whoever dragged her out of the way and quickly realizes it was Steve.

“I had him!” Peggy tells him, pissed off.

Steve’s on his feet in an instant and running after the retreating car, “Sorry!” he manages to shout to her.

She rolls her eyes and sets to take off after him. This bloody uniform, she thinks. How is she supposed to successfully chase down an enemy while in a skirt and heels? Honestly, whoever designed this has no brains.

She quickly kicks off her heels and rips a slit up the sides of her skirt so she can reach a full stride when she runs.

_“Steve where are you?”_ Peggy thinks in his direction.

_“I’m in pursuit, 2 blocks south and 1 block east. Yellow taxi”_ Steve shoots back.

Well that’s a bloody useful skill. How had he gotten so far so quickly?

_“On my way”_ She sends back

She takes off in the direction that Steve said. She quickly realizes how he’d gotten away so quickly. Her legs are moving faster and with more strength than they ever have before. She barely feels the ground beneath her bare feet as she weaves around cars and people.

It wasn’t hard to find them with all the destruction they’d left behind. When she reaches them she sees Steve shaking the man by the collar and demanding answers. Next to them there’s a broken vial of serum.

“Cut off one head and two more shall take its place” the man mutters out. Peggy quickly realizes what he’s about to do but before she can stop it he’s biting into the fake tooth. His mouth foams and he smirks up at Steve, “Hail Hydra” he gets out before going limp.

Steve throws his body down and angrily swipes a hand through his wet hair. Peggy places a soothing hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, he didn’t get the serum Steve” She tries to tell him soothingly.

He turns to face her suddenly and she can see the tears in his eyes, “Erskine is dead” Steve says in a pained whisper.

* * *

When Steve and Peggy arrive back at the antique store they find Colonel Phillips deep in conversation with one of the senators. He looks up as they enter and makes his way over to them.

“Did you get him?” Phillips asks.

Steve clenches his jaw and Peggy can feel the pang of anger that goes through him.

“He’s dead, cyanide tooth” Steve bites out.

“And the serum?” Phillips asks.

“The vial broke in the fight. The serum spilled out onto a dock a few blocks southeast of here, no one’s getting it” Peggy explains.

Phillips nods, “We need to talk. Privately” he says in a hushed tone and gestures for them to follow him.

Peggy and Steve share a look before quickly following. He leads them to a small room where Howard is waiting for them. His eyes are glossy and red-rimmed.

“Are you both okay?” Howard asks as soon as he sees them enter.

Steve just nods without saying anything. Peggy has to resist the urge to reach out to provide him some comfort.

Phillips takes a seat at the small table in the corner and motions for them to join him, “We have a slight problem” he begins.

Steve scoffs, “Yeah, you had a hydra spy under your nose the whole time and no one noticed. Now Erskine is dead. I’d say that’s a pretty big problem.” he snaps.

Phillips narrows his eyes at Steve, “Private Rogers, I’m going to let your attitude slide because it’s been a stressful day, but you need to remember your place here” he says

“My place here?” Steve asks angrily, “Sorry Colonel, should I drop and give you 20?” he asks sarcastically.

Peggy can feel the tension rising in the room. She quickly reaches over and places her hand on Steve’s arm, “We’re all upset Private, but we still need to do our jobs”

_“Please Steve, let’s just get this conversation over with”_ Peggy says to him privately.

Steve nods and clears his throat, “Sorry Colonel, please continue”

“Like I said, we have a problem” Phillips begins, “With Erskine dead the Army is going to assign a new doctor to test the effects of the serum. One who doesn’t know the full aspects of it.”

“I’m not following. What’s the problem? Stark can brief him and then they can run the tests on Steve and I” Peggy asks confused.

“Dr. Erskine was adamant that no one find out about you getting the serum” Howard responds quietly.

The meaning behind what they’re saying suddenly dawns on her and she sighs, “Which means no one can run any tests on me and we won’t fully know how it’s affected me” she finishes.

“Wait, Stark’s a genius, can’t he just run the tests?” Steve asks.

Howard sighs, “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I’m not a doctor. Plus Erskine never wrote down his notes, so I wouldn’t even know where to start”

“We have to assume that the serum affected you both the same” Phillips says, “Rogers will start getting tests run on him today and we’ll base our expectations of Carter off his results”

“We’re just gonna guess?” Steve asks, “What if there’s something wrong with her?”

“We don’t have another option” Peggy says quietly.

“There’s more” Phillips says.

“Of course there is” Steve says, rolling his eyes.

The colonel gives him a hard look before continuing, “The link between you two has to be kept a secret. Effective immediately, this operation will be closed and marked as unable to continue without the expertise of Dr. Erskine” Phillips says

“Sir?” Peggy asks.

“I’ve spoken to Senator Brandt and he’s got an idea to sell war bonds. Rogers you’ll be staying here in the states with him. Carter, you’ll be flying back to London tomorrow with Stark to continue your work with the SSR” Phillips explains.

“You’re separating us?” Steve asks

“I wish it could be different, but we just can’t risk anyone finding out. You have tonight to say your goodbyes” Phillips says, with that he exits the room leaving Steve and Peggy to digest the fact that they were going to have to be without each other.

* * *

It’s late by the time they get back to the hotel. Wordlessly they ascend the stairs to Steve’s room. It’s an unspoken agreement that they’d be spending the night with each other. How can they only have one more night together? Peggy can feel the grief and anxiety rolling off of Steve in waves. His shoulders are tight as he opens the door for her. She tries to sooth him through their link, but she’s sure there’s anxiety coming from her end as well so she doesn’t expect she’s much help.

“Steve?” she tries, watching as he collapses on the sofa with his head in his hands. He doesn’t give any indication that he heard her so she tries again, this time without speaking, _“Darling?”_ she asks.

Steve lifts his head and Peggy’s heart breaks at the sight of his tear stained cheeks. She quickly crosses the small room to sit beside him and take him in her arms.

“How did this all happen?” Steve mutters into the crook of her neck.

Peggy doesn’t have an answer to that so she just holds him tighter.

They sit like that for a while, neither one willing to break the silence with words, spoken aloud or otherwise. They simply relish in the comfort that comes from being close to one another.

Eventually, Steve is the one to break the silence between them, _“I don’t want to lose you”_ he says.

Peggy takes his face in her hands and guides him to look at her, _“You have me, my darling”_ she replies and presses a kiss softly to his forehead, _“For tonight, you have me”_.

Suddenly Steve’s pushing off the couch, and he paces the length of the room. Peggy doesn’t need the link between them to know that he’s angry.

“What about after tonight?” Steve exclaims, “Phillips is shipping you off to London and I’ll be doing god knows what with that senator.” His hands find their way back to his hair, roughly combing through it.

“I don’t know Steve” Peggy replies. She gets up from the couch and approaches him, removing his hands from his hair and intertwining her fingers with his. “But I do know that I don’t want to spend tonight thinking about it.”

Peggy presses her lips to his and reaches up to card her fingers through his hair. Steve grips her hips and pulls her against him. She moans as he deepens the kiss, pressing him against the wall. She begins trailing kisses down the side of his neck and Steve throws his head back.

“Peggy” he groans in pleasure.

She can feel him hardening where he’s pressed against her leg. Her nipples stiffen under her shirt and a low heat begins to pool in her belly. She presses a leg between his.

Peggy kisses her way up toward his ear and whispers, “I want you my darling.”

Steve shudders at her words. His lips seek out hers before trailing down her neck, leaving love bites in his path.

Peggy tilts her head to give him more access, “Have you done this before?” she manages to ask between moans.

Steve pulls back and a blush spreads across his cheeks, “No I haven’t” he whispers.

Peggy meets his gaze, “It’s alright, I’ll show you how” she says and brushes a thumb against his cheek.

Peggy takes his hand a leads him back to the bedroom. She motions for him to sit on the edge of the bed. Across the room she divests herself of her blouse and skirt, leaving her in only her undergarments.

Steve’s eyes widen and sweep across her body as she saunters over to him.

“A bit overdressed aren’t you, soldier?” Peggy asks in a low voice while dragging her hands down his arms. She can see the tent forming in his pants and she smirks.

“I suppose so. Care to help a guy out?” Steve responds.

Peggy playfully rolls her eyes at him. She quickly un-tucks his shirt from his pants and pulls it over his head leaving his chest bare. Just like earlier, she finds herself distracted by the hard planes of his new body. He had been just as lovely before the serum, but these new features of him certainly have their perks. Her favorite being the sizable pectoral muscles on his chest.

She’s pulled out of her thoughts by Steve taking her hand in his and pressing his lips against it.

“You can’t expect me to do all the work my darling, trousers off please” Peggy says and motions towards his belt.

Steve quickly works to do as Peggy said and in a moment his pants follow his shirt onto the pile next to the bed. Peggy takes a step back to look at him fully.

He’s gazing up at her with pupils blown and lips slightly parted. A blush spreads down his neck to his chest. Between his legs his cock stands at attention, already leaking at the tip. Wetness pools between her own legs at the sight.

“Did that grow with the serum too?” Peggy asks, eyes wide at the size of him.

Steve blushes at her question, “Not as much as you might think”

Peggy steps back towards him and she leans down to kiss him hungrily. Her hands run along his chest and her mouth trails kisses down his neck heading south. She gently nudges his legs apart before dropping to her knees between them.

Steve moans softly at the sight of her gazing up at him front where she sits kneeling between his legs. Peggy reaches out and grips him in her hand giving an experimental tug. Steve throws his head back and groans at the sensation. His hands grip the sheets at his sides.

Peggy continues her movements and watches him intently. He’s warm and solid in her hand. She wonders what it would be like to taste him. Slowly she leans in and presses a kiss to the tip. Steve gasps.

He tastes salty on her lips, but not bad. Peggy leans in again and licks a strip up the underside.

“Oh god, Pegs” Steve cries out.

Spurred on by his reaction, Peggy takes him fully in her mouth and begins to bob her head up and down, taking more of him each time and using her hand to cover what her mouth couldn’t.

Above her, Steve continues to moan. Her mouth is warm and wet around him, giving just the right amount of pressure. It’s a million times better than the nights he spent with just his hand. A familiar tightening begins in his balls, “This is all gonna be over too soon if you – oh god – keep that up” Steve manages to get out.

Peggy pulls off of him with a pop and looks up at him. She replaces her mouth with her hand, occasionally running her thumb over the head.

Steve gasps, “Pegs I’m serious.”

Peggy smiles up at him deviously, “Don’t you remember what the doctor said?” She asks, not once stopping her hand, “Increased stamina. I bet that applies to _all_ aspects of life.”

“Oh god!” Steve cries out as she leans in to suck a mark into his thigh.

“Just me darling, now relax and let me take care of you” Peggy takes his hand from where it’s fisted in the sheets next to his leg and brings it to tangle in her dark brown locks, “You can pull at it if you’d like, just not too hard and please don’t hold me down.”

Briefly, Steve wonders why he’d hold her down at all, but the thought disappears as Peggy takes him in her mouth again. His fingers tighten in her hair, pulling at it while being mindful not to pull too hard.

Peggy feels his fingers tug at her hair and she moans around him. The vibrations cause Steve to cry out above her.

“Fuck, Peggy I’m close” Steve moans in warning.

Peggy takes him even deeper and reaches her free hand up to roll his balls in her hand. Seconds later his whole body tenses and he reaches his peak with a cry of her name. She gasps in surprise as a jolt of pleasure suddenly hits her as well. Not quite an orgasm, but not too far off either. She pulls back so that just the tip rests between her lips and swallows.

Steve whimpers as she pulls off of him and tugs her up towards him. She goes willingly and settles into his lap, pressing kisses to his face and barely resisting the urge to rut against him.

Peggy reaches down and grips his cock. “See darling? Still hard”

When Steve finally catches his breath he runs his hands along her sides causing her to shiver, “I want to do that to you, make you feel good with my mouth” he murmurs against her lips.

Peggy nods against him and bites down on his lower lip causing him to moan, “Let’s start with the basics” she says.

She reaches behind herself and unclips her bra before letting it fall.

Steve is enraptured with the sight and slowly reaches out to press his hand against her breast. She arches into his touch and sighs. He explores gently, tracing his fingers along her chest and taking note of which touches make her breath hitch. He rubs his thumb across her nipple and she gasps and lets her head fall back.

Emboldened by her response, he leans forward and closes his lips around one nipple while his fingers tweak at the other.

Peggy groans as the pleasure shoots straight to her center and she rolls her hips against him, “Yes” she moans. It must be a side effect of the serum because she’s never been so sensitive.

Steve switches his mouth to her other breast and grips her hips. Peggy takes one of his hands and gently guides his hand to press against her through her underwear. He can feel the wet spot on her panties and he brushes his fingers against it.

“More” Peggy gasps.

Steve pulls off of her nipple and trails kisses back up her neck going towards her mouth. He slips his hand under the waistband of her underwear and swipes his fingers between her folds. He groans when he feels the warm wetness between them.

Peggy reclaims his mouth and cards her fingers into his hair, “A little higher darling” she pants between kisses.

Steve moves his fingers higher and they bump against a hard nub. Peggy cries out and bites down on his lower lip so he repeats the motion.

“Yes right there!” Peggy moans and rolls her hips against his hand.

He continues massaging her clit and she trembles against him. Through their link he can feel the pleasure building in her. Could he cum just from making her cum?

Suddenly Peggy is pulling his hand out of her underwear and climbing off his lap. She stands up and quickly pushes them down her legs, kicking them to the side. Steve stands and pulls her towards him, leaning down to press his lips to hers.

Peggy maneuvers them towards the bed and lays down, pulling Steve down with her.

He kisses along her neck and reaches down to rub at her again, _“You’re beautiful Pegs”_ he says.

_“Oh my darling”_ she responds, pressing her forehead against his.

Slowly Steve presses a finger into her and her back arches at the sensation.

“Do you still want to use your mouth on me?” Peggy asks.

Instead of answering, Steve removes his hand and slides the finger that had been inside her into his mouth. His eyes flutter shut and he moans at the taste.

Peggy groans and looks up at him with hooded eyes, “You’re going to be the death of me” she says.

Steve pulls his finger out of his mouth and smiles down at her, “But what a way to go”

“Cheeky, why don’t you use that mouth for something besides sass” Peggy says to him.

“Yes ma’am” Steve replies and starts kissing his way down her body.

Peggy sighs and lets her legs fall open. Her hands grasp the sheets below her. Steve traces kisses along her thighs, avoiding her center and making her squirm in frustration.

“Darling please” she whined as he once again passes over her center without making contact.

_“Something bothering you Pegs?”_ Steve asks continuing to kiss and bite at her thighs. He can feel exactly how turned on and frustrated she is. His cock hangs heavy below him.

_“Bloody hell”_ she groans, chest heaving. It feels like every nerve is on fire. She reaches down and grips his hair in her hand, forcing him to look up at her, “Stop teasing Stev-” her words are cut off with a gasp as Steve licks a long strip up her center.

Peggy’s gasp quickly turns into a moan and her hand tightens in his hair as he repeats the action, pressing hard against her clit.

Steve pushes his tongue deep inside her, his nose pressed against her clit as her back arches. He ruts into the sheets below him, moaning at the friction on his sensitive cock. Peggy’s free hand comes up to her breast, rolling her nipple between her fingers.

Her moans increase in volume and Steve replaces his tongue with his finger, quickly adding a second at her breathy insistence. He can feel her own pleasure mirrored in him.

Peggy cries out as Steve seals his lips around her and his tongue flicks against her clit, “Don’t stop, I’m so close”

Steve redoubles his efforts as Peggy trembles below him. His own hips press more franticly into the mattress.

Peggy clamps down around his fingers and sobs his name as she climaxes, the surge of pleasure triggering Steve’s own orgasm. He continues working his tongue against her focusing only on the taste of her on his tongue. He barely notices the wetness pooling against his belly and spreading on the sheets below him.

Steve pushes her over the edge once more before Peggy is pushing his head away, too sensitive for him to continue. She pulls him up to lay beside her as they both catch their breath.

Peggy turns her head to look at him. His cheeks are flushed and his eyes are closed. He’s never looked more beautiful. She wonders if he sees her the same way that she sees him. If he knows that being connected to him has filled the empty hole in her chest. In that moment she knows that she’d move heaven and earth for him. There’d be no obstacle too big.

How is she going to say goodbye to him?

Steve, sensing the turn her thoughts had taken, opens his eyes and looks at her with a small smile and barely concealed sadness, “I’m here now Peg” he says.

Peggy wordlessly curls around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck and lightly traces patterns along his chest with her finger tips as his arms wrap around her.

They lay there for a while, basking in the serenity of being close to one another, neither of them willing to break the peace with words.

In the end, it’s Peggy who caves first.

“Could you feel it?” Peggy asks, still a bit breathless. She brushes her thumb across his lips, “When you came in my mouth it almost felt like I had an orgasm myself, but it was through our link”

“Everything I did to you I could feel mirrored in myself” Steve admits, a blush spreading across his cheeks, “We’re gonna need to change the sheets before we go to bed”

Peggy gives him a confused look before glancing towards the end of the bed. She quickly understands as she notices the wet spot on the sheets where Steve’s hips had been minutes ago.

“Darling I don’t plan on getting any sleep tonight, so we can get the sheets as dirty as we want” Peggy says to him. She moves to straddle his hips and leans down to capture his lips. The taste of herself on his tongue stirs something primal in her, like she was able to mark him as hers.

Peggy moans at the sensation of her chest pressed against his and she feels his cock twitch against her thigh. She reaches down to grip him in her hand and slides the tip through her folds, groaning as it brushes against her clit.

“We need a condom. I don’t have one, do you?” Steve manages to say between kisses.

Peggy pulls away from his lips and lightly brushes her nose against his, “Right, back in a tick” she tells him before climbing off of him entirely.

She disappears out the bedroom door, and the sight of her naked and walking away from him quickly becomes one of Steve’s favorite sights of all time.

_“I can feel you thinking about my arse Steven”_

He chuckles to himself as Peggy steps back through the doorway, a small tin in hand.

“Howard slipped these to me earlier today. Remind me to apologize for calling him a wanker when I see him tomorrow” Peggy says with a mischievous smile.

“Remind me to thank him” Steve responds as Peggy removes one condom from the tin and climbs back onto the bed.

Peggy carefully rips open the foil package. Steve groans as she rolls the rubber onto his length.

She swings a leg back over his hips and positions herself above him with one hand on his chest. Her breath catches as she slowly sinks down onto his considerable length.

Steve’s head falls back, eyes shut. He’s lost in the feeling of her tight walls around him, warm and wet. Unable to focus on anything beyond the two of them together.

He opens his eyes expecting to see the same pleasure reflected on Peggy’s face, but instead he sees her with eyebrows drawn and eyes closed tightly, “Peggy?” he quickly asks out of concern.

Peggy opens her eyes to meet his worried look, “It’s alright, I just need a moment” she gives him a small smile.

Steve is unconvinced, “Are you sure? We can stop”

“You can feel me, what do I feel?”

Steve brings his hands up to rub along her thighs and focuses on their link, “Pressure”

Peggy nods slightly, “Mm-hmm, what else?”

“Fullness”

Steve gasps softly as Peggy begins to roll her hips against him

“Go on” she says, not stopping her movements

“Pleasure” Steve says, moving his hand up her thigh to rub his fingers along her clit the way she’d shown him.

Peggy’s head falls back, “Yes” she moans, shifting her weight to her hands so she can begin to get into a rhythm. Steve’s hand doesn’t slow as she slides along him, drawing pleased noises from her throat. The feeling of his only pleasure only serves to amplify her own.

Steve moans as Peggy’s walls clench around him. He pulls her down, desperate to feel her body pressed against his again. Their lips meet hungrily and Steve braces his feet on the bed so he can drive into her.

They move against each other for what seems like hours with only the sounds of their mutual pleasure filling the room. Peggy bites into Steve’s shoulder to muffle her scream as her orgasm overtakes her and her walls clamp down around him.

Her orgasm triggers Steve to reach his own climax and he thrusts into her once, twice more before letting out a choked moan and tightening his arms around her.

They lay there together, still connected with heaving chests, completely spent for the moment. Peggy brushes her thumb against Steve’s cheek and floods their bond with the love she has for him. She can feel the reciprocation from his end and leans in to softly press her lips against his.

“My darling, if only this moment could last forever” she whispers softly.

Steve reaches out to tuck a stray curl behind her ear, “It won’t be our last. We’ll always come back to each other”

“How can you be so sure?” Peggy asks

“Because I finally found what I’ve been waiting for” Steve says

Peggy looks at him softly, “What have you been waiting for?”

“The right partner” Steve tells her and leans in to capture her lips with his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed, let me know what you think so far!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed I had some issues getting the italics to show up in my previous chapters. When Steve and Peggy communicate through their link the dialogue will be in italics. I've gone back and fixed it in the last chapter, so feel free to re-read that if you wanted a better sense of how well they switch between speaking out loud and speaking in their heads. Sorry for any confusion!
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter than I wanted it to be and I'm not completely in love with the ending, but it's finished and uploaded so I hope you enjoy it!

Peggy sighs as yet another file that needs decrypting is tossed onto her desk. It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy her work or doesn’t think it’s important; it’s just been a long day. They’d lost all contact with the regimen that had been sent to take down a hydra blockade near Azzano. Nearly 200 men were missing which meant tensions were running quite high at their small base in Italy. Peggy had barely had more than a few hours sleep since they’d lost contact nearly 36 hours ago.

On top of it all, it’s been over five months since she’s seen Steve and she misses him terribly. There’d been letters of course, but between the war and oversea mail services they’d been few and far between. Frankly, the level at which she misses Steve is causing her to have quite the existential crisis.

Growing up, all she’d wanted was to do something good with her life, something meaningful. She’d never stopped to consider where a man might fit into that life. Even when her mother was teaching her to be a good housewife whilst her brother was given the freedom to learn how to fight and to develop his own ideas and opinions, she never bought into the idea that she needed a man to complete her. Peggy Carter was going to pave her own way in life, consequences be damned.

The only one who’d really understood this was her brother. Unbeknownst to her mother, Michael had taught her how to fight and shoot a gun, and in turn she’d taught him how to mend the tear he’d put in his good jacket trying to befriend a stray cat. Michael and she had spent long hours talking about how they’d grow up and save the world while tensions between England and Germany grew around them. By the time she was 18, Michael was a pilot in the Royal Air Force and she’d joined the British Royal Military. When Michael died she decided she’d make good on their promise to save the world and joined MI6 as a spy.

Now here she is four years later, an agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, trying to save the world while pining over a man. Michael would be teasing her mercilessly if he were here right now.

Despite how he’d poke fun at her, Peggy likes to think that Michael would quite like Steven Rogers. Steve was the first person in a long time to truly see her for who she is and who she wants to be. She’s not quite sure what Michael would think about her donating her body to science for the sake of the war, but she’s pretty sure he’d approve of who she did it with.

Peggy looks up from the file she hasn’t been paying attention to when she hears someone enter the tent.

“Mail for you Agent Carter” says the young private while holding out a few envelopes.

She quickly takes the mail from him, “Thank you, any word yet from Azzano?”

The private’s face darkens at her question, “No ma’am, nothing yet”

“I see, hopefully we’ll hear something soon. Thank you for bringing this” Peggy says giving him a tight smile.

The soldier nods and makes his way out of her tent. Peggy decides to take a break from the file to go through the mail; the file had been giving her a headache anyway.

She’s quite annoyed to find that they’d yet again given her Colonel Phillips’ mail as well as her own. Don’t they know by now that she’s not his bloody secretary?

Her irritation is quickly chased away when she sees the letter addressed to her with Steve’s return address on it.

It’d been weeks since she’d sent her last letter to him, and with him being on that ridiculous tour she always worries they’ll move on to a new location before her letters can arrive. To be honest she’s annoyed to have to write letters in the first place. They’d quickly found out that there’s a distance limit on their mental link. It’s not as though the link is completely severed, just that they can’t communicate through it.

It’s entirely ridiculous to think that a magic serum responsible for giving them superpowers should be thwarted by a few thousand miles of ocean and land between them, but she supposes it isn’t the first thing to surprise her in life.

She can still feel Steve’s presence on the other end of their link, but it’s been dimmed in a way. Instead of being able to feel his emotions so readily, it’s as though there’s a constant hum in her chest telling her that he’s there and that he’s safe. It’d been a jarring change at first, but she’s decided she much prefers it to the emptiness of him not being there at all.

So instead of being able to simply send a thought in each other’s direction, they’ve settled for writing letters. Coded letters of course. Peggy’s involvement with the serum is still top secret and they can’t risk being exposed if their letters were intercepted. So, they refer to their connection as a “radio”. If anyone intercepted multiple letters, it’d be obvious they were alluding to something else rather than a broadcasting device, but it would be difficult to discern what they were actually talking about.

The letters certainly weren’t the same as having him in her head, but they’d suffice for now.

_Dear Agent Carter_

_I wish you were here with me so you could see some of the scenery where we are. We had a stop-over early this morning in Michigan on the way to tonight’s show. I haven’t really been sleeping well because I’m still having some trouble getting the radio turned down at night so I decided to just go for a walk instead. I stumbled across a lake and Peggy I tell ya you shoulda seen the way the sun was rising over the water. It was beautiful, not quite as beautiful as you of course, but beautiful just the same. It still amazes me that I can see colors the way they’re supposed to be seen. Especially red. That one always gave me more trouble than the rest of them. Did you know it was the first color I saw when I stepped out of Dr.Erskine’s machine? It was the color of your lipstick. I’m not sure how long I sat on the shore looking at the view, just that by the time I left the sun was high in the air and the other dancers had already eaten breakfast when I got back. I sent you the drawing I did of it, it’s not as good as the real thing but I wanted you to be able to see it. I’m not quite sure what the name of the town is, but I’m sure I’d recognize it if I saw it again. When this is all over we should go and visit. We can go to every country and every state just to see which ones have the prettiest views. I miss you tons Pegs._

_Please try to be safe,_   
_Steve_

_P.S. The tour got extended to overseas. Maybe we’ll be in the same country and be able to see each other._

Peggy smiles as she finishes the letter. She can picture Steve writing it, bent over a small table between shows and making sure every detail in the drawings he’d sent her were perfect. They were certainly perfect in her eyes. The sunset had every bit of beauty he’d described, and for someone who was colorblind until recently he certainly adapted to drawing with color extremely well. He also included another drawing, one of himself in his “Captain America” outfit tripping over his two left feet on stage. Peggy finds the whole Captain America act preposterous. Steve’s a soldier just like the rest of them. He’s meant for more.

Peggy carefully folds the letter back up along with the drawings, taking great care to make sure they don’t crease or bend, and files them away in her drawer where she keeps all the other letters Steve has sent her.

She does miss him dearly. At night she yearns for him in a way that leaves her wanting with only her own hands to satiate that want. She wonders if he can feel her desire even at such distances. It’s probable that he can’t however, for if there’s desire on his end she hasn’t felt anything. It’s a nice thought nonetheless. Steve having to excuse himself from rehearsal or a meal to find his own release while she finds hers.

They’d struggled in the beginning with the time difference of course. Even with the connection dimmed, it was still enough to keep them awake when the other was. Peggy had learned that if she concentrated very hard she could block out the hum of life from his end which allowed her to get some sleep. Of course it had led to a rather panicked telegram to the colonel when Steve suddenly couldn’t feel her. After sending a telegram back explaining she was, in fact, still alive, Steve had written her admitting that he was having issues with it as well and was glad she’d found a way to “turn the radio down”. Although, from his recent letter it appears he’s still having trouble with it.

Perhaps if they can see each other in person, Peggy can better explain it to him.

Among other activities of course.

The thought of finally having some alone time with Steve again causes a familiar warmth to settle low in her belly. Honestly her libido has been ridiculous lately. She feels like she’s a teenager all over again, comparable to when she and Lizzie had first discovered what an orgasm was and the different ways they could give them to each other.

Yes, Peggy Carter is a modern woman indeed.

She quickly shakes the thoughts from her head. There’s a war on after all, and she has a job to do. She reopens the file she’d being working on and gets back to decoding.

She’s so concentrated on her work that she almost doesn’t hear the familiar footsteps outside her tent. Almost.

“I have mail for you” Peggy announces before Colonel Phillips can even get all the way through the doorway.

“Jesus Carter, how do you always know it’s me?” Phillips asks incredulously

Peggy laughs at the slight shock on his face, “You stomp Colonel”

Phillips grumbles at her laughter but otherwise doesn’t comment as he takes the mail from her outstretched hand and begins looking through it.

“How come all my mail ends up with you anyway?”

“Go ask the private who assumes I’m just your secretary.”

“Guess I better pay him a visit then” Phillips responds and slaps another file on her desk, “I got a mission for you. Arms dealer in south France is supplying German soldiers with weapons. Convince him to start supplying to us instead.”

“When do I leave sir?” Peggy asks, already flipping through the file.

“Stark will be here in about an hour to fly you out” with that he exits the tent.

Perfect, Peggy thinks, the plane ride will give her enough time to write Steve back.

* * *

“Mail for you Stevie” Grace, one of the USO dancers, announces as she walks backstage. They’re performing in North Dakota tonight.

Steve jumps up from his seat, eager to see who the letter’s from, but before he can grab it Audrey, one of the other dancers, has already plucked it from Grace’s outstretched hand.

“From Margaret Carter, Belluno, Italy” Audrey reads aloud, evading Steve’s attempts to get the letter, “Aw Stevie is this your girl from overseas?”

All at once the other dancers in the room surround them, eager to learn more about Steve’s mystery love life. He feels his face heat up at the attention.

“She’s not my girl” Steve corrects. It’s true. He and Peggy hadn’t discussed the specific roles they filled in each other lives, and Steve doesn’t want to make any assumptions. Although, the love he felt from her end of their link while she writhed in pleasure below him was unmistakable and he’s sure she could feel the love coming from his end as well.

“Come on Aud, give him the letter, if he gets any redder he might combust” Grace says with a laugh.

“Oh alright” Audrey says and tosses the letter in Steve’s direction, which he catches without issue, “You know for someone who’s ‘not your girl’ you sure do get excited to hear from her” she teases gently.

“Plus, postage to and from Italy certainly ain’t cheap” a voice to his left, Kate, adds.

Before Steve can think of a convincing response, the stage manager bursts into the room.

“Intermission ends in 3 minutes and no one’s where they’re supposed to be. Quit looking at yourselves in the mirror and get a move on!” the stage manager, Jim, barks at them.

All discussion on Steve’s feelings for Peggy is immediately forgotten as the girls rush to get to their places in time. Steve doesn’t like the way Jim leers at the girls as they leave the room. In fact, Steve doesn’t like Jim at all. He’s a condescending man who rarely treats any of the dancers with respect and Steve has half a mind to use his new strength to deck him.

“Quit sneering at me Rogers, you’re on stage in 15” Jim snaps and exits the room leaving Steve alone.

Fifteen minutes was certainly enough time to read Peggy’s letter while he had some privacy. He makes sure his props are all in order before sitting at his station and carefully opening the letter.

_Dear Steve,_

_You drawings, as always, are stunning. I’m sure you captured the Michigan sunrise perfectly in your attempt, but, as you mentioned, you’ll have to take me there someday so I can make an accurate determination._

_I miss you too my darling. I miss you dearly and desperately, and I quite hope we’ll be able to see each other during the overseas portion of your tour. Perhaps I can try to help with your radio issue better in person. I can even teach you how to dance if you’d like. It might save those poor dancers’ toes from your “two left feet” as you drew in your comic._

_I hope you’re well and that you’ve been able to get some more sleep. I must admit I haven’t been sleeping well lately either. Things here haven’t been going to plan and I’ve found the radio to be quite a comfort amongst the stress. I’ve been reluctant to turn it off at night as it gives me something to hold on to and look forward to. It seems like every day the colonel says we’re “turning the tide of the war” and “it’ll be over soon”. I’ve found that once you’ve heard those reassurances for years they hold little comfort. Perhaps one day this war will end, but right now it seems eternal. I can hardly remember a time in my life that wasn’t filled with the pain and grief stemming from it. So much that I’m not sure what my life would even be like without it. What will my life look like when the battles are over and the day is done? I suppose I don’t need to have it figured out right now, but when I do get to that point, I hope it’s with you by my side._

_All my love,_   
_Peggy_

_P.S. As long as you’re in Europe, I’ll find a way to see you, come hell or high water._

Steve finishes her letter and immediately aches to comfort her. He often forgets that the war arrived in Europe long before it did in America. He can feel the familiar warmth of their connection deep in his chest and he tries to send some form of comfort through it, unsure if it would even reach her. There’re too many things he’s unsure of these days. Peggy’s safety, Bucky’s safety, whether or not he’ll ever see either of them again.

He quickly brushes off the dark thoughts. It doesn’t do him any good to dwell on the unknowns. Still, he can’t help but feel like he could be doing more, should be doing more. The people who mean the most to him in the world are out there risking their lives and he’s wearing tights and punching a fake Hitler.

A bang on the door pulls him from his thoughts, “Let’s go Rogers!” Steve hears Jim yell.

He rolls his eyes and carefully folds the letter back up before grabbing his shield and heading towards the stage.

Steve sighs as he waits for his cue to go on. Important to the war effort his ass, he thinks.

* * *

“Don’t worry pal, they’ll warm up to you” Jim tells Steve as he trudges off the wooden stage.

Steve barely suppresses the urge to roll his eyes. It was a joke bringing the show overseas to try and entertain the troops. Did they really expect a little song and dance and some crap about ‘sockin’ old Adolf on the jaw’ to cheer up the men and women on the front lines?

He rips his cowl off and tosses it in his cubby along with the metal shield. What’s worse is that he hasn’t heard from Bucky in months and he can barely feel Peggy through their link which means she’s nowhere near the base so he’s not going to get to see her.

Overall, Steve’s just not in a good mood. He knows the dancers can tell because they steer clear of him as he grabs his notebook and stalks off to find somewhere quiet to draw.

He’s so lost in thought he doesn’t even hear the footsteps as he’s approached from behind.

“Hello Steve” an accented voice says.

Steve whips around in surprise and the familiar warmth of their bond blooms in his chest as he takes in the sight of Peggy giving his a small smile. Her hair is perfectly coifed despite the rain around them and she has her signature red lipstick on.

“Peggy” Steve breathes out, “I mean, uh, Agent Carter. H-how did you-I don-I didn’t think you were here” he finally manages to stammer out.

Peggy’s smile grows amused, “Yes I was quite hoping for that. I wanted to see if I could surprise you, so I turned the radio down so to say”

“Well I’m definitely surprised” Steve tells her, returning her smile.

“It was quite the show you put on today” Peggy says as she takes a seat on the bench behind him.

Steve feels his cheeks heat up knowing that she saw his train wreck of a performance.

Peggy, feeling his embarrassment, lets out a huff of laughter, “There’s no need to be embarrassed darling. I quite enjoyed seeing you in those tights” she says, shooting him a suggestive look.

“I feel like I could do more than just dance around in tights. I suppose I should be grateful I’m not stuck in a lab.” Steve mutters.

“Are those your only two options? Lab rat or a dancing monkey?” Peggy asks, gesturing to his drawing. “You’re meant for more than this” she says resolutely when Steve meets her gaze.

“You know for the longest time I dreamed about coming over seas, being on the front lines, and serving my country” Steve sighs, “Finally got everything I wanted and I’m wearing tights”

Before Peggy can respond, their attention is drawn to a jeep speeding up to the medical tent behind them. They’re both silent as they watch them unload a bleeding soldier on a stretcher from the back.

“They look like they’ve been through hell” Steve says quietly.

Peggy makes an affirming noise “These men more than most.” At Steve’s questioning look she continues, “We sent 200 men to take down a hydra blockade in Azzano. We lost contact after 16 hours and a week later less than 50 men returned. Your audience contained what was left of the 107th. The rest were killed or captur-”

“The 107th?” Steve exclaims, cutting her off.

Peggy can feel the pang of shock and worry shoot through him “Steve what is it?” she asks.

Before he can respond, he’s grabbing her hand and pulling her out into the rain after him, “I need to see Colonel Phillips” he states.

Together they run through the rain and the mud. Zigzagging around other soldiers and hastily put up tents.

_“Steve, tell me what’s going on”_ Peggy demands, pulling Steve to a stop. She’s shocked when she sees the heartbroken expression on his face.

_“Bucky’s unit is the 107th”_

Peggy lets out a small gasp, _“Come on, I know a short cut”_ she says and pulls him to the right and they resume running.

When they arrive at the Colonel’s tent Steve quickly pushes past the other officers. “Colonel Phillips”

Colonel Phillips sets his paperwork aside and gives him a once over, “Well if it isn’t the man with a plan. Tell me, what is your plan today?” Phillips greets gruffly

“I need the casualty list from Azzano” Steve tells the colonel hurriedly.

“You don’t get to give me orders son” Phillips says frowning.

Steve ignores him and continues, “I just need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th”

Phillips shoots Peggy a hard look, “You and I are going to have a conversation later that you won’t enjoy”

“Please just tell me if he’s alive sir. B-A-R-“ Steve starts before he’s cut off.

“I can spell.” Phillips says sternly.

There’s a pregnant pause before Phillips stands up and turns his back to them. Steve’s about ready to jump over the desk and start shaking him by the shoulders when the colonel finally starts speaking again.

“I’ve signed more condolence letters today than I would care to count, but the name does sound familiar” Phillips sighs, “I’m sorry”

Peggy feels Steve’s heartbreak so strongly she thinks her own heart might rip in two, _“My darling I’m-”_ she tries to comfort him.

Steve doesn’t even appear to have heard her. “What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?” he asks.

“Yeah it’s called winning the war” the colonel says flippantly.

“But if you know where they are, why not go resc-” Steve starts.

“They’re thirty miles behind enemy lines, through some of the most heavily fortified territory in Europe” Phillips informs him while pointing at the location on the map behind him, “But I don’t expect you to understand that because you’re a chorus girl”

“I think I understand just fine Sir” Steve says.

“Good, now go understand it somewhere else” Phillips says and dismisses them.

Steve bites back a response as the colonel leaves and instead turns to inspect the map behind the desk. The serum had given him a photographic memory, time to put it to good use.

_“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”_ Steve asks Peggy as they walk in the direction of the USO tent. When they get there Steve quickly starts shoving some rations in his bag and grabs his shield.

_“That depends, are you thinking about walking to Azzano to rescue your friend?”_ Peggy asks him.

_“Yup”_ Steve says shortly.

_“Then no, I’m not thinking the same thing”_

At that, Steve spins around to face her, fire burning behind his eyes _“I can't just leave him there”_ he says coldly.

Peggy doesn’t shrink under his gaze, _“You won’t be any help to him once you’ve been blown up by one of the hundreds of landmines out there”_

_“What do you suggest I do then?”_ he says, slamming his shield into the back of a jeep.

_“I suggest you fly there. I know a pilot who might help us”_ Peggy says and puts a hand on his arm to try and calm him.

Steve acquiesces and turns to face her and sees the determined look in her eyes, _“Who?”_ he asks.

Peggy gives him a wide smile, _“You’ve actually met him already. Now grab a helmet and let’s go save your friend.”_

Steve does as Peggy says and then they’re driving in the opposite direction of the colonel’s tent, a steely and determined resolve set about them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think so far? Feel free to review and let me know :)
> 
> \- thegaywhocouldfly


End file.
